Has anyone here ever used or heard of Thorne Bay Lodge on POW? I saw they advertise self guided blackmails on the island, you get what looks like a nice cabin and a truck for about $1000/week. Sounded like a decent introductory hunt to AK, I asked about success rates and when they answered my e-mail they didn't respond to that question...so I was a little suspicious. How is the blacktail hunting in general on POW?

Yeah, I've been on one of those self guided blackmails. Called marriage.

I used them several years ago for a self-guided black bear hunt. At that time, the accomodations were nice. I am more of a diy guy so it fit what I needed perfectly.
We saw blacktail every day on that trip. I suppose success rate has a lot to do with the hunter's ability and trophy standards.
Neither my wife or I shot a bear on that trip so we brought down the success average. We could have killed 8 different bears. We were looking for something special. (We found it on the last day but couldn't close the deal. I'll remember that bear for a long time.) POW is a neat place and I want to go back some day.
If you go, I recommend building in a day to your schedule for some salt water fishing as well.

One odd thing that did happen to us was that we got a flat tire and there was no jack in the vehicle. Apparently the previous week's hunters also had a flat and the owner thought they might have left it wherever they changed their flat. Who knows, but it sucked being stranded for 5 hours until someone drove by.

Haven't used them but the wife and I stay at another self guided outfit. We go up to fish in late August and always see a few bears and a lot of deer. Thorne Bay is great place to hunt and fish as long as you are self sufficient.

You can get groceries in town so don't pay extra to fly food in. There is a liquor store and a gas station that both have regular hours but everything else is hit or miss. The sporting goods store was for sale and only open one or two days a week but if you get in a bind there is a well stocked sporting goods store in Craig. There are also a few restaurants in Craig if you get tired of your own cooking.

Early season deer are usually pretty easy to come by. Mid season, October ish can be a challenge. Don't know where the bucks go but they sure do disappear. Later on, November, December they show back up. If you can get a map of all the loggin roads and areal photos or current Google earth to confirm where the roads are it helps. Some of the loggin road system maps are off by a fair amount sometimes. . Tho the road will go up a drainage, sometimes the mass show the road on the wrong side of a crik or some such incompetence !! If they supply a cabin and a truck for $,1k per week that's pretty good. But you will want to check the truck out well. As has been mentioned, DIY =self sufficient. =Know before you go. A mountain bike is a great way to road hunt some of the road systems. Nice and quiet. If your not familiar with rain, POW will give you an education.

Three of us hunted Thorne Bay Lodge for two weeks last November. We saw does every day but didn't shoot any bucks. It is a different type of deer hunting I won't be doing again. To be fair to the lodge, we were the only group to not shoot any deer. So, they are out there.

The accomodations are all you'll need, the locals are friendly and there are lots of other hunters road hunting. So, if you go, get a forest service map and get off the roads to avoid the other hunters.

I never considered POW to be the best deer hunting in Alaska. Much prefer hunting the muskegs and beaches of northern Southeast . But, there's plenty of deer on POW. Black bear and wolf also. But its pretty easy to get around on The Island with a truck or SUV.

Ive hunted bears twice in the last three years on POW and am going back in May to do it again. That being said, I have a brother that lives there as well so Ive got some knowledge of the island.

I also have a great taxidermy client that has taken many many P&Y deer from POW. He hunts high in the early season.

POW gets pounded with road hunters coming over on the ferry with ATV's and from the water with boats. What my brother and other contacts on the island told me was to get off the road and away from the beach if you want to get in the deer.

Study your topos, talk to the biologist and find places that you can take an hour walk to reach and you should find deer. Remember you can cut them up and pack them out so even if you are way off the road, you don't have much to drag out.

If you are a bowhunter, I know a guy that has a cabin for rent in Whale Pass for a reasonable price. You can get a rental in Craig/Klawock and all your supplies and head up there.

http://blacktailbobsbasecamps.com/home.html